Costa Mesa-Based Tam’s Files Bankruptcy Plan : Retail: The stationery chain blames a dispute with the creditor that financed its photocopiers. No closures are planned.

Blaming a dispute with a major creditor, increased competition from office supply superstores and the slow economy, Tam’s Stationers Inc. said Monday that it has filed for bankruptcy reorganization.

Tam’s, which opened its first store near USC in 1947, is profitable and will not close any of its 20 locations in Southern California or lay off any of its 225 employees, President Michael R. Davis said. In fact, the Costa Mesa-based company still intends to open several new stores in the coming year, he said.

The filing Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana was designed to help Tam’s overcome short-term financial problems caused by an ongoing dispute with Imaging Financial Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Electric Credit Corp., Davis said.

Imaging Financial Systems financed more than 100 photocopy machines placed at Tam’s stores. Tam’s filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code after Imaging Financial Systems won a court order earlier this month allowing it to seize the machines. The bankruptcy filing freezes that order, said Marc Winthrop, an Irvine-based bankruptcy lawyer who is representing Tam’s.

Loss of the copiers would have been a serious blow because “the photocopy service is a large aspect of Tam’s overall business,” Winthrop said. “They’ve been trying to work something out, but the value of the machines is worth a lot less than the balance of the debt.”

Tam’s listed $2.9 million in assets and $5.8 million in debt in the filing. The company said it had 1993 revenue of $16 million and was profitable, though it did not say how much it earned.

The privately held company operates stores throughout Southern California, most of them near university campuses. It offers a wide selection of stationery and office supplies and, like competitors, relies heavily on its copying service.

Davis said Tam’s remains “a very strong company with good profitability” despite the slow Southern California economy and increased competition from large office supply stores such as Office Depot and Staples. Rather than competing directly with the office supply giants, he said, Tam’s is repositioning itself with smaller stores, lower-priced photocopying and better service.